This time of year, I work with a lot of clients on their taxes. The economic results of both the pandemic and the relief packages meant...

When I lived in Shanghai back in the 1990s, I, like many other expatriates, received a housing allowance as well as a slightly higher...

As Americans, we are obsessed with dieting and counting food related indicators like calories, sugars, carbs, trans-fats or, for those...

Our family recently re-watched the first of three movies of the series: The Hobbit (directed by Peter Jackson, 2012) in order to...

With the shortage of activities due to COVID, my family and I have been playing more board games. Pictionary by Mattel has resurfaced...

In a Berkeley Mews comic, the main character is making a list of New Year’s resolutions. He writes the list title and the first item: 1....

Most things in life require constant balance. We all know it is good to exercise, but if we take too long at the gym, we will eat into...

As a financial planner, I regret to admit that my kids are pretty nonchalant about managing their allowance. But since they are too young...

My family members and I are chicken “newbs”. The chicks we bought, last February, and raised in our TV room are full-grown laying hens...

I went back to re-watch the first five seasons of “Schitt’s Creek”, when I realized, somewhat belatedly, that Season 6 had been released....

In keeping with the general atmosphere of 2020, I was researching the origin of Murphy’s Law on a coffee break between clients. We are...

Last week, my husband and I had lunch with three of our friends, Anna, Franz and their adult daughter, Erika. Erika happens to have Down...

When you are a kid, you cannot wait to celebrate your next birthday. Besides the party and the cake and, of course, the presents, you...

Three social media posts caught my eye, this past week. The first was an article about opposition to the decision of a café that employs...

Last week, my sons’ summer program was not in session. While I enjoyed spending time with my boys—among other things like re-learning how...

With very little public areas of any kind open in Illinois, besides our many delightful forest preserves, my son and his summer program...

Because my son’s summer program is so small, it is (thankfully) in regular session, despite the fact that Illinois is only partially...

A couple of weeks ago, I took my son and a friend of his to a local forest preserve—that being one of the few things open during the...

My son was about to have his first in-person, life parkour practice in months. There would be only 10 kids. They would work out in the...

My son needs a lot of coaching to complete a project, assigned to him by someone else—say a teacher. But he has 150% focus and puts in...